Integrating Nursing Care into Systems of Care for Children with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

PROBLEM: Recent developments in providing care to children with emotional and behavioral disorders, especially those with serious emotional disturbance, have included the establishment of systems of care. Guided by a set of principles and values, these systems of care have organized and delivered services to children and families with complex needs. To date, nurses have not had a salient role in systems of care. RESULTS: It is estimated that 20% of American children and adolescents have an emotional or mental disorder. As many as two thirds of these children are not receiving services. Systems of care have been funded to provide services for these children, particularly for the most severely affected. To date, nursing has not had a prominent role in these systems of care. CONCLUSIONS: Based on their knowledge, skills, and holistic approach to care, nurses could better integrate nursing care into systems of care. Possible roles as case managers, primary therapists, in-home interventionists, and in educational programs are suggested.     

When work strain transcends psychological boundaries: an inquiry into the relationship between time pressure,irritation, work–family conflict and psychosomatic complaints

Against the theoretical background of the effort–recovery model and the action regulation theory, the author presents a cross‐sectional questionnaire study testing hypotheses about the relationship between work‐related time pressure, cognitive and emotional irritation, work–family conflict and psychosomatic complaints. Subjects were 576 female home care nurses. Results of a path analysis show that the relation of time pressure and psychosomatic complaints is partially mediated by experiencing a work–family conflict; also the relation of time pressure and work–family conflict is partially mediated by cognitive and emotional irritation. It is argued that cognitive and emotional irritation are fruitful concepts for a more comprehensive understanding of the relationship between work stressors and the development of strain‐based work–family conflict. Implications for the prevention of work–family conflict are outlined. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

大学新生心理健康状况的调查研究

目的　了解大学新生的心理健康状况 ,探讨提高其心理健康水平的措施。方法　采用大学生人格问卷(UPI) ,以班级为单位 ,在新生正式上课两周以后进行测试。结果　学生一类筛选率 9.2 4 %。UPI关键题选择中 ,以常常失眠占的比例最高 ,想轻生的比例最低 (P <0 .0 5 )。UPI附加题选择中 ,以自身健康方面有问题及有健康或心理卫生方面想要咨询的问题较多 (P <0 .0 5 )。选择“想轻生”的男生的比例略高于女生 ,选择“常常失眠”的女生的比例却明显高于男生 (P <0 .0 5 ) ;选择“常常失眠”、“对任何事情都不感兴趣”和“感觉自己的过去及家庭不幸”的农村学生的比例都高于城市学生 (P <0 .0 5 )。选择“想轻生”和“对任何事情都不感兴趣”的独生子女的比例明显高于非独生子女 ,而选择“自己的过去和家庭是不行的”和“常常失眠”的非独生子女的比例又明显高于独生子女 (P <0 .0 5 )。结论　单亲家庭学生、残疾学生、家庭经济困难学生、独生子女学生是心理问题高危人群     

医保对象对职工医疗保险制度反应性的分析

该文对享受上海市城镇职工基本医疗保险的市民进行随机抽样调查,就其对医保政策的评价和就医行为反应性改变,分析医保改革的有效性和震荡度.提出加强医保法制建设,强化费用分担意识,完善医保政策,进一步体现福利性、公益性、公平性.     

Soul City: a sustainable edutainment vehicle facilitating social change

This paper outlines the programming model employed by the Soul City Institute for Health and Development Communication, a South African NGO, in using ‘edutainment’ to facilitate social change. The paper refers to the intersection of this model and current thought on health promotion and various social change theories. It also discusses key challenges and factors contributing to sustainability over 12 years.     

Tobacco smoking: a major risk factor for loss of teeth in three 70-year-old cohorts

Oral health was examined in a random sample of 1377 people in three 70-year-old cohorts studied within 5-yr intervals. During the studied period 1971-1983 the prevalence of toothlessness decreased from 52 to 34%. Toothlessness in men was more common in smokers, 48%, and ex-smokers, 32%, than in non-smokers, 20%. Eichner's index was used as a measurement of dental invalidity. This index showed a worse dental state among smokers and ex-smokers compared to non-smokers. Multivariate analyses indicated that tobacco smoking was a major independent risk factor for tooth loss in elderly men.     

Association of psychological and physiological measures of stress in health‐care professionals during an 8‐week mindfulness meditation program: mindfulness in practice

Work stress, burnout, and diminished empathy are prevalent issues for health‐care professionals. Mindfulness meditation (MM) is one commonly used strategy to manage stress. Measuring salivary cortisol allows for the assessment of serum cortisol level, a known stress level indicator. This study evaluated the association of subject‐reported stress symptoms and salivary cortisol in health‐care professionals, in an 8‐week MM program, with data collected prospectively at baseline and 8 weeks after program completion. Questionnaires [Profile of Mood States—Short Form (POMS‐SF), Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), and Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI)] measured mood, burnout and empathy. A paired t‐test between groups for pre/post‐salivary cortisol yielded no significant change. The POMS‐SF was most sensitive to change (mean increase 12.4; p = 0.020). Emotional exhaustion, measured in the MBI, was also affected by MM (mean decrease 4.54; p = 0.001). Changes in empathy may not have been captured due to either absence of effect of MM on empathy, subject number or scale sensitivity. Baseline and 8‐week correlations between salivary cortisol and survey results, and correlations between changes in these measures, were weak and not statistically significant. Nevertheless, psychometric results present a strong case for additional clinical trials of MM to reduce stress for health‐care professionals. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Why do Italian people rate their health worse than French people do? An exploration of cross-country differentials of self-rated health

The prevalence of bad self-rated health (SRH) varies considerably across countries. Here we present the results of a cross-national comparative study based on the data of National Health Surveys conducted in France and Italy. According to these data, 11% of the Italian and 6% of the French adult population aged between 45 and 74 rate their health as bad or very bad. This gap may result from differences in population structure regarding the individual characteristics (sociodemographic characteristics, diseases and disabilities, lifestyle, and others) that impact on SRH i.e., a structural effect. It may also be that the link between these characteristics and SRH is “country-specific” i.e., a contextual effect. We use logistic regression models to assess the contribution of both explanations. We find that the structural effect plays a prominent role in the higher prevalence of bad SRH in Italy compared to France.